


Hello Stranger

by maevesdarling



Category: Westworld (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Bad Flirting, Charlie Lives, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, M/M, No Angst, Single Parents, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24760306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maevesdarling/pseuds/maevesdarling
Summary: A "modern" AU in which Bernard is a single parent. He and Charlie visit the Planetarium and meet Ashley Stubbs, the security guy. Awkward flirting follows.(...) Shit, shit, shit, Bernard thought. It wasn't like he wasn't looking for someone new in his life. For a while he had thought he had found someone with Theresa, but then she left him all of sudden. Technically there was nothing speaking against letting someone new into his life. Suddenly the situation felt all too real. (...)
Relationships: Bernard Lowe/Ashley Stubbs
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	Hello Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I don't know why I wrote this but when I checked my notes and saw it had 2k words I just had to post it I hadn't had it in me to delete it, even if I feel like it's not my best work. Also, this is my modern AU in which Ford adopted Dolores and Maeve and also Arnold was his husband who died and I'm already in too deep aren't I? 
> 
> Anyway, happy family!!!! Charlie!!!! Planetariums!!!!! Flirting!!!!

It was a cold rainy Monday morning, Charlie was out of school by 12 and Bernard decided to take the boy on a special trip.

First, they drove around the city, lunch was a huge meal at McDonald's and afterwards they decided to visit the planetarium.

The short drive was spend in an exited silence, with Charlie pressing his head against the car's window to see the different buildings they passed on their way.

Once Bernard had paid for their entry, the boy was off and disappeared in the crowd of people, making his father slightly uneasy. He followed his son a bit slower, keeping a close eye on him. The last thing they needed was another trip to the hospital, especially after Charlie's last visit.

Charlie had always been a sick child, pneumonia, broken bones, high fever, over the years Bernard had spend at least a dozen nights in a hospital seat next to his son's bed, worrying if he would even wake up. He and his wife had decided it was for the best to split up. It wasn't his son's fault, but over the years they both realized that the love they once had for another was slowly drying out. They had spend many nights ignoring each other after another verbal fight, Bernard burying himself in his work for Doctor Ford and his wife leaving the house to sleep in a hotel.

It came to no surprise when Bernard walked into his office one day and found the divorce papers lying on his desk, with only one signature still missing. His own.

They separated on good terms, often visiting another. Charlie, they decided, would live with Bernard and visit his mother whenever he pleased. Raising Charlie as a single dad was challenging at times, especially with such a clever, agile boy like Charlie.

"Wait! Charlie don't climb-" Bernard tried to intervene when he noticed his son pulling himself up on a rock that had been propped up in the middle of the room, a flagpole standing up ontop.

A tall figure pushed past him through the crowd, they reached the boy at the same time. "Careful!" The stranger said, extending his arms in case the boy would fall. It wasn't a high fall, but knowing his son he'd probably find a way to land just right to break something.

"Charlie!" Bernard too held out a hand for his son to take. "How often did I tell you not to run off? You could have fallen off that thing." He pointed towards the rock.

A set of eyes was still on him, making Bernard slightly uneasy. He cleared his throat and turned to face the stranger who had helped him. He had short blonde hair and was wearing a dark suit with a small name tag that red "Stubbs" and a security badge. Shit. Now they were going to be thrown out.

"Easy partner." The man, Stubbs, said noticing the look on Bernard's face. "Your son did nothing wrong, you're allowed to take pictures of yourself on that…" He was visibly looking for words. "Well on the moon I guess? I'm sorry I haven't been here for long. But normally people take the stairs to get to the top." Both Charlie and his father leaned forward slightly to look around the rock and indeed, a set of stairs had been propped up again it.

"I- uh…" The security man was looking around a bit helplessly. "I guess I should get going. If something's troubling you, just… yell, okay?" Charlie beamed and gave him the thumbs up. "Dad can I climb the rock now? I promise I'll take the stairs this time." Bernard sighed.

After a while Charlie was growing tired of the exhibition and asked if they could go inside the main room to watch one of the many lectures that were being shown.

Bernard paid for the additional entry, plus two huge packs of popcorn and they got seated inside, watching as the lights dimmed and the projector started showing different images of the night sky. A male voice was narrating what exactly was shown. For the most part, Charlie loved the show, until he was starting to get antsy. "Dad, I need to go to the toilet." He whispered. Before Bernard could grab their things and get up the boy added. "You can stay here, I won't take long. I promise I'll be back in a minute."

Bernard weighed his options. It was true that his son was slowly getting to old to be looked after constantly. Taking his hesitation as a yes, Charlie stormed off.

Bernard had a bad feeling. The rest of the show trickled by without Bernard noticing. His eyes kept wandering towards the door. A small sign caught his attention.

"Doors will be closed from outside during shows." Oh fuck.

He got up immediately and practically ran towards the door and out, which earned him a few weird looks from other visitors. Once outside he looked around frantically.

"Charlie!" No answer. His son was not waiting for him outside. He sprinted towards the toilets, looking everywhere for the boy. Nothing.

His heart was racing. Just when he was about to call the police, his eyes caught side of a familiar looking backpack. "-it's okay… Charlie? We will find him." The crowd parted for a moment and Bernard caught side of his son with the security guard from before.

"Charlie!" He jogged over and pulled his son into a bone crushing hug. "Charlie, I searched everywhere for you!" His son didn't seemed to be worried now that his dad was there. He was already smiling again.

"The doors where closed so I went around to find a different entrance."

"And then I found him." Stubbs said, smiling. "You look like you're about to freak out. How about I get you something to drink?" He asked towards Bernard. The dark haired man nodded reluctantly.

"It's really not necessary we have water in the car-"

"Nonsense." Stubbs waved him off. "Please."

Together they entered a small room that had the words "employees only" written on the door. Charlie was loving every second of their little adventure.

"Hey buddy, you wanna see something cool?" Stubbs asked, kneeling down towards Charlie. The boy nodded enthusiastically. " I'll text my friend, Elsie, she works here as well. She can show you the secret room." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "It's where we keep all the cool stuff. We have an actual part of the moon down there." He said and winked at Bernard.

The dark haired man could feel his cheeks turn red. Shit. This guy was good.

Elsie, a short woman with dark hair and a friendly face appeared in a matter of minutes. She wore a white shirt underneath a dark jacket. Her name tag was decorated with little stars and rainbow stickers.

"Hi! Ashley told me about you." She said as soon as she saw them.

"Ashley?"

The blonde flinched ever so slightly. "Uhh, yeah. That's me. Ashley Stubbs." He held out his hand for Bernard to take.

"Bernard Lowe. Pleased to meet you."

Elsie looked between them before whistling. "Alright boys, I'm gonna take…"

"Charlie!" His son announced enthusiastically.

"Charlie here and we'll get going. Have fun." She said with a wink.

Bernard was confused.

"Sorry for that." Ashley said leaning against the counter. They were standing in a small kitchen area. "Oh shit, sorry, forgot your water!" He said and hurried to grab a bottle from the small fridge. Bernard thanked him with a nod.

"Please it's the least I can do. I was meant to fix this door for a long time. Security's been breathing down my neck about it. Something about fire regulations." Bernard nodded along.

"Yeah…" Ashley handed the bottle over and returned to his place by the counter. "Sooo… you come here often?" He asked. Cliche.

Bernard smiled. "Not really, I thought it would be nice to go somewhere different for once. We've been to the nature history museum at least twice this months and if I have to walk through the bug exhibition one more time I might go insane."

Ashley laughed wholeheartedly. He looked nice when he was happy, Bernard thought. Shit. He was in too deep.

"And you?" He asked, setting the bottle against his lips and taking a sip.

"Me? Nah, there's nothing interesting to say. My uncle got me this job, he's a professor for computer engineering. Pretty big number. They probably gave me the job because they saw his name on the resume." He said, fingers drumming against the counter rhythmically.

Bernard stopped drinking. "Wait... Your uncle is Doctor Robert Ford?"

The drumming stopped. "How do you know-"

"I'm his partner. We're doing research together. At campus. Oh my god how did I not notice-" It wasn't like Ford was very open about his family. Bernard knew that he had two adopted daughters, Maeve and Dolores, and that his husband, Arnold, had passed away a few years ago.

He had mentioned a nephew, once or twice. Who was looking to work in security, family guy, really nice and good looking, and most importantly, he had been in numerous relationships with both men and women.

_Shit, shit, shit,_ Bernard thought. It wasn't like he wasn't looking for someone new in his life. For a while he had thought he had found someone with Theresa, but then she left him all of sudden. Technically there was nothing speaking against letting someone new into his life. Suddenly the situation felt all too real.

Bernard felt his heart fluttering in his chest. _Oh shit! I'm having a crush on Doctor Ford's nephew._ He thought. And judging by the way Ashley was avoiding to look into his eyes, the feeling was mutual. Well, there was only one way to find out, Bernard thought.

"So what are you up to on Tuesday?"

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

They both started at the same time.

There was a short pause where both of them started at each other. Then Ashley started to smile. "I'll have to work on Tuesday, but how about Friday?"

Bernard's mind was going 90 miles per hour, Friday was the day Charlie would go visit his mother. They would the entire evening to themselves plus the weekend.

"Sounds great."

Suddenly nervous, Ashley fidgeted with his name tag. "Alright, great…"

"Yeah…. So you don't mind? That I'm a single dad? How did you even know?" The smile returned to Ashley's lips as he lifted his hand and pointed to his ringfinger.

Bernard looked down, of course. He wasn't wearing his wedding ring anymore.

"Fair enough."

"It's my job to observe. And to answer your question, I don't mind at all, your son seems lovely."

They spend a few minutes in silence until Elsie and Charlie returned. The boy was beaming. "Dad I saw a giant meteor, and there was a big telescope!" He held both of his hands wide out. "It was this big!"

"That's great Charlie." He said, ruffling his sons hair.

"Don't forget your stuff." Ashley handed them both their jackets and bags. "Right, thanks." He pushed his glasses back and helped Charlie dress.

They said their goodbyes and left, Charlie telling all about his findings in the storage. Bernard listened to what his son said, happy with how the day turned out.

When he slipped a hand into his pocket, he felt a piece of paper. "Dad? What's wrong?" Charlie asked when he noticed his father wasn't listening.

Bernard pulled out the piece of paper, his mouth was incredibly dry all of sudden. He opened it and red what had been scribbled on it.

_Friday, 6pm I'll come pick you up ;)_   
_-A_

And then underneath was a phone number. Before his son could see what it was, Bernard let the paper disappear. "Nothing's wrong." He reached out to hold his son's hand as they crossed the street to get to the car. "Did you like the planetarium?"

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Great, I have a feeling we'll be there more often from now." Friday couldn't come soon enough.


End file.
